Army Thwarts Assassination Scheme in North Lebanon

Local Editor

An Army Statement said Saturday that the Lebanese Army arrested a terror suspect who was plotting to assassinate a senior Army officer in north Lebanon.

A Lebanese Army Intelligence unit apprehended Hassan Hamad al-Hassan over his "affiliation with Daesh [Arabic acronym for ‘ISIS' / ‘ISIL'] terrorist organization" and "plotting to prepare for the assassination of a senior Lebanese Army officer with a roadside bomb or by a sniper rifle," the Army said, without adding further details about the location of the arrest.

However, the state-run National News Agency previously reported that Hassan was detained in a raid on a house in Wadi Khaled near the northeastern Lebanese border with Syria.

The Lebanese Army added that the suspect was monitoring the house of the officer and that he procured all required arms and explosives to conduct the operation as well as further attacks in other parts of the country.

Hassan had formed a terror cell to plan the attack, the Army said, adding that he was working at the behest of militants in Daesh-occupied Raqqa in Syria.

He also provided a Daesh commander on the outskirts of Arsal with information about the Army's preparations for the "Fajr al-Joroud" offensive, launched Aug. 19, which has seen the majority of former Daesh-held territory in the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa reclaimed by the Army.

Hassan also intended to target Army vehicles and posts, in addition to other bomb attacks in northern villages, the Army said. He also requested that Daesh commanders in Raqqa provide him with a shrapnel-laden explosive belt.

The arrest and foiled assassination attempt come as the Army is preparing to launch the final phase of its offensive to oust Daesh from the last 20 square kilometers that it holds in Lebanese territory.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team